Dining Out: Pleasing Polish specialties at Chopin

Mandy Erickson, Special to The Chronicle

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Photo: KATY RADDATZ

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Chopin Cafe, a Polish restaurant in the Palos Verdes Mall in Walnut Creek. These pictures were made on Sunday Dec. 23, 2007, in Walnut Creek, CA. KATY RADDATZ/The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/NO SALES-MAGS OUT less

DINE02_CHOPIN
Chopin Cafe, a Polish restaurant in the Palos Verdes Mall in Walnut Creek. These pictures were made on Sunday Dec. 23, 2007, in Walnut Creek, CA. KATY RADDATZ/The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR ... more

Photo: KATY RADDATZ

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DINE02_CHOPIN
Chopin Cafe, a Polish restaurant in the Palos Verdes Mall in Walnut Creek. These pictures were made on Sunday Dec. 23, 2007, in Walnut Creek, CA. KATY RADDATZ/The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/NO SALES-MAGS OUT less

DINE02_CHOPIN
Chopin Cafe, a Polish restaurant in the Palos Verdes Mall in Walnut Creek. These pictures were made on Sunday Dec. 23, 2007, in Walnut Creek, CA. KATY RADDATZ/The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR ... more

Photo: KATY RADDATZ

Dining Out: Pleasing Polish specialties at Chopin

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It's clear as soon as you walk into Chopin Cafe in Walnut Creek what sort of dining experience it offers. The lace curtains covering the windows, the small dining room and the warm welcome from waiters all spell coziness.

Naturally, the menu is all about comfort food: soups, stews, sausages and dumplings - Polish specialties that are well prepared, filling and satisfying. That nearly everything is made on site comes as no surprise from such a homey restaurant.

Seating only 28, Chopin Cafe (named, of course, for the Poland-born-and-raised composer, whose music plays constantly) is a bit eclectic, with its mismatched chairs and walls covered in plates and tapestries. The dining room's small size keeps it relatively quiet.

I stepped into the cafe one chilly night and was immediately offered a cup of hot tea served on a saucer with a doily. It warmed me up enough to try some cold appetizers, including the herring ($6.25), salt-cured fish that still manages to taste freshly caught. Steak tartare ($9.50), served with chopped olives, raw onions and pickles, possesses a rich, meaty flavor uncompromised by cooking. It's a big pile of beef meat. One appetizer is enough for four people.

The lovely cucumber salad ($3.95), thinly sliced cucumbers topped with sour cream and dill, is a refreshing contrast to some of the heavier entrees. But vegetable potato salad ($5.45), a mayonnaise-based number with peas and carrots, was heavy and bland.

A more warming starter, borscht ($3.95/cup, $4.95/bowl), is a delicious peasant-type soup with chunks of beets, potatoes, veal and lima beans. The flavor of the sweet, earthy beets permeates the clear broth, giving it a beautiful magenta tint.

Native Pole Eva Janik, who has been running Chopin Cafe for 11 years, sticks to Polish food almost exclusively, although she does serve American-style breakfast. Four basic ingredients - beef, cabbage, potatoes and mushrooms - staples from Janik's homeland, make an appearance in nearly all the entrees. But they mix and match well enough to offer a short menu of dishes.

One of the best is the hunter's stew ($11.95), Poland's national dish. It's a saute of cabbage, sauerkraut, beef, pork, sausage and mushrooms. The pickled cabbage, adds just enough sour edge to the vegetables, while the mushrooms contribute earthiness and a soft texture. The contrasting meats add interest, the sausage's pungency complementing the beef's heartiness.

The house-made sausage ($14.25), of pork and chicken, is fresh tasting with a faint scent of marjoram - light yet juicy. The accompanying potatoes, boiled, then halved and fried, are crisp on the outside and fluffy inside.

The beef roulade ($17.95) features thin strips of beef wrapped around onions and peppers cooked so long they've nearly melted. This entree, along with goulash ($16.25), a stew of tender beef in rich gravy, is accompanied by choice of potatoes: airy mashed potatoes; light, tender gnocchi; or dumplings.

The one disappointment was the stuffed cabbage ($11.95 with tomato sauce, $12.25 with mushroom sauce), both of which were bland and watery.

Chopin Cafe's star dessert is the blintz ($3.25 for one), a crepe filled with the house-made Neufchatel-type cheese, then fried to give it a lovely crisp bite. Coated with raspberry sauce and whipped cream, it's outstanding. Slices of house-made rum-soaked and lemon-iced pound cake ($3.50), moist with a tender crumb, are also available.

While Chopin Cafe offers good, hearty meals, perhaps its greatest draw is its service. The servers are skilled at making diners - new ones and regulars, Polish-speaking or not - feel welcome and cared for. Another waiter earnestly described the dishes, proudly explaining that gnocchi may be known as Italian but are a Polish delicacy, too. And the cook who delivered dessert to the table, still wearing her apron, asked how we liked the entree.

It's attentive service like this - along with the homey comfort food - that makes you feel like you're part of an extended family, if just for one memorable dinner.

Prices are based on main courses. When entrees fall between these categories, the prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings. Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous. All meals are paid for by The Chronicle. Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits. Ratings are updated continually based on at least one revisit.

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